At Long Last.

The UK's most talented young vocalist is back, ladies and gentlemen. I know I am obviously not the only one who has been long-anticipating Adele's sophomore album, but I can say with full confidence that no one is more excited to hear what she has been working on for over a year than I am. I fell head over heels in love with Ms. Adkins quite early on in the game, and got a chance to meet her and talk to her at her first show in Los Angeles at The Roxy in 2008. I have never seen someone more nervous and unsure of her vocal ability in my life, ironic as she now sells out stadium-sized venues and has Grammys and worldwide recognition under her belt, nor have I ever known someone to be genuinely appreciative and grateful for what she has been given in life. I can honestly say that no one is more deserving of the acclaim she received for her tour-de-force of an album, 19, two years ago... the release of her newest, 21, is set to be released February 22nd and cannot come soon enough. I love that she stuck with naming the album after the age she was when she wrote the songs; it's a clever way of telling her audience that the tracks are wholly representative of the person she is now versus who she was when she first started, giving the songs a pleasantly ephemeral quality within the timeless nature of their sound.

After recording her album in Malibu, California for months on end (in what was, as I gathered from reading an article in Q Magazine, a quaint little beach shack-meets-recording-studio), it appears as though the final touches are being made, as she unveiled one of the first tracks yesterday, entitled Rolling In The Deep. The accompanying video is a gorgeous display of her time in Malibu and recording process, giving her fans a deeply personal connection to what I know is going to be one of the most epic albums of 2011. The song itself displays an innate confidence that was somewhat lacking in her first album, as the empowering kick-drum and passionate lyrics and tone in her voice seem to let the world know she has conquered love, and not the other way around. It's hard to say that her voice sounds better than it did in any way, because she has vocals that are relatively impossible to improve upon. Needless to say, though, she sounds AMAZING. Listen to "Rolling In the Deep" and watch the video posted below, and I know you will become as unexplainably excited for the month of February as I now am.